Freedom of Information Law in Russia and the U.S.

Graham Frederick Dumas has published Comparative Analysis of Russian and American Freedom of Information Legislation. Here is the abstract.

 

A brief study of the new Russian freedom of information law (No. 8-FZ, Feb. 9, 2009) through the lens of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. While the new Russian law addresses many prior concerns of information-freedom advocates and creates a much more robust regime of access to information, several problems remain. These are in part due to certain provisions in the law, which are phrased rather broadly, as well as to the lack of institutional independence that continues to plague the Russian judiciary, at least in cases to which the government is a party. All-in-all, however, this law presents a positive step forward for freedom of information in Russia.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link. (Paper is in Russian.